ALLENTOWN — The Upper Freehold Regional Board of Education is now considering proposing a budget that would have the average Allentown resident paying $203 more in school taxes this year and the average Upper Freehold resident paying $364 more.

The Board of Education does not have state aid figures for the 2009-10 school year, nor does it have the current regionalization ratio information for Allentown and Upper Freehold. Therefore the various tax levy scenarios it has been looking at to develop the 2009-10 school budget are subject to change once the district obtains that information from the state. The board has been analyzing various tax levy scenarios with last year's state aid and ratio figures.

During the board's March 4 meeting, Superintendent of Schools Dick Fitzpatrick said the school district should have the new state aid and ratio figures by March 11-12. He said the school district must present the budget it plans to put before voters in the annual school election to the Monmouth County Superintendent of Schools on March 12.

Fitzpatrick said the county superintendent will review the proposed budget and could make demands that affect the proposed spending and tax levy. The board must approve a proposed budget prior to March 18 and has therefore rescheduled its March 18 meeting to take place at 7 p.m. March 16. After introducing a proposed budget, the board will have until March 30 to make any last-minute changes before the April 21 election.

By law, the school district can only propose up to a 4 percent increase on the tax levy voters approved the year before. Therefore, the amount of taxes it can raise for next year's budget, which will affect the opening of the new middle school, depends on the tax levy voters approve this year.

Throughout the budget process this year, board members have taken into consideration the new school opening and the downturned economy while trying to devise a budget that relies on the lowest tax levy percentage increase possible to maintain the programs and services it provided in 2008- 09 and maintain class sizes. Board members have also tried to better educate the public about debt service by reiterating that a portion of the taxes raised for the 2009-10 budget pay down debt for the referendums voters approved in the past.

Taking the debt service and current district needs into consideration, the board came to a consensus during its Feb. 25 budget meeting to ask the administration to reduce its proposed 2009-10 spending plan by $130,108 so it could propose a 3.2 per- cent increase on last year's tax levy and raise approximately $17.5 million in taxes for the budget.

To reduce the budget by $130,108, the board cut the district's free late bus for a $30,000 savings. Students would have to pay $50 per semester if they want to use the late bus. The board also eliminated one buildings and grounds position to save $30,000 and one-half of an elementary school language arts staff position to save $31,000. The board cut its budget by $11,000, eliminated a high school gifted and talented coordinator to save $3,482, and eliminated a high school activity advisor to save $3,482. The board also reduced each school's spending and the athletic department's spending by 1 percent for a total savings of $7,500. The board changed the summer band program to a fee-based program to save $4,473 and reduced some other costs.

After the board provided the administration with this direction, Business Administrator Diana Schiraldi got word from the state that the district must spend $150,000 it had set aside two years ago for any potential tuition adjustments related to the costs of the Millstone Township School District sending students to Allentown High School (AHS). The regional school district set aside the $150,000 in the event it received too much tuition from Millstone, but did not have to spend that money because Millstone underestimated student enrollment for 2006-07.

Fitzpatrick said if the board concluded to spend the $150,000 on programs and services, the administration would recommend doing so by not eliminating the onehalf of the elementary school language teacher position, which costs $31,000. He also recommended adding the full-time equivalent of one staff position to the high school at a cost of $64,500 to reduce math and health class sizes that are nearing 30 students each. He also suggested the board add $34,5000 to a lease for new thermostats, which would help the school reduce its energy costs because the devices would provide more efficient climate control when the schools are closed on nights and weekends. He also suggested the board consider putting $20,000 toward a late bus that would benefit students who might not be able to participate in extracurricular activities due to not having a ride home.

Fitzpatrick also told the board that it could apply the $150,000 to the tax levy, which would reduce the proposed increase to about 2.3 percent.

Board member Howard Krieger championed the argument against putting $34,500 toward the lease agreement for the new thermostats without knowing exactly what the district would save in energy costs as a result of installing the devices. The board agreed to ask its professionals for that information before making a final decision on the money for the lease agreement.

The board agreed not to fund one-half of the elementary school world language teacher position. After reviewing the number of students who use the late bus, which is usually none, the board also agreed to make it a fee-based bus ride for those who need it next year.

The majority of the board did express concerns about high school class sizes.

Board member Elizabeth Trent said, "Anything to reduce class size is so important. Thirty kids in a class is absurd. I'm teacher. I know."

Board member Laura Dreifus said she does not want to see overcrowded math and health classes at the high school, but could not support additional spending to remedy

the problem. "I don't think I can officially advocate for this [on behalf of Millstone] because it would increase high school tuition in a couple of years," Dreifus said. The board agreed to spend the $64,500 to fund the equivalent of one full time teacher to increase the

number of health and math classes at the high school. If the board decides against putting the $34,500 toward the thermostat lease, it would put the remaining $85,500 of the $150,000 toward reducing the tax impact of this year's budget.

The current consensus of the board is to propose a $32,553,674 budget that relies on a $17,388,707 tax levy, which amounts to an approximate 3 percent increase over last year's tax levy. Considering the state aid and regionalization ratio figures do not change from what they were last year, the board would be proposing about a $203 tax increase for the average Allentown resident with a house assessed at $153,300 and about a $364 increase for the average Upper Freehold resident with a house assessed at $626,400.